August 14, 2007
one's own pain
One has the right to, may feel compelled to, give voice to one's own pain -- which is, in any case, one's own property. - Susan Sontag, On Photography
gathering in community
The real question that must guide all organizing activity in a parish is not how to keep people busy, but how to keep them from being so busy that they can no longer hear the voice of God who speaks in silence. Calling people together, therefore, means calling them away from the fragmenting and distracting wordiness of the dark world to that silnece in which they can discover themselves, each other, and God. thus organizing can be seen as the creation of a space where communion becomes possible and community can develop.
- Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
- Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart
August 13, 2007
online churches
What does it mean to have an online church? Can a church be online and nothing more? Is the definition of being online antithetical to the meaning of church? Will online churches be the new model of churches for the new century? How is the church evolving and how do we understand the way culture has influenced the new church model(s)?
August 12, 2007
way of the heart
I'm aware of the irony of this post, given the fact that I am a poet, a writer, a dealer and craftsperson of words. However recent events in church, work, and home have further strengthened my resolve to think more carefully about the words I speak, and about the value of silence.
In Henri Nouwen's book on desert spirituality and contemporary ministry, he writes about silence as "solitude practiced in action." Contemporary Christians often forget large chunks of Christian history, and we most often neglect the Desert Fathers and Mothers who teach us the way of the desert, the way of the heart. They emphasize silence as not only a way to commune with God or a way of avoiding evil, but in this "wordy world", silence "can be a sign of God's presence in the different forms of ministry."
In this day and age, words dominate our existence. Indeed, they build up the cages in which we operate. As a poet, I craft language and words in ways to help break through the anesthetized daily living so that experiece comes through. The volley of words that come at us through online ads, junk mail, spam mail, billboards, commercials, text messages, emails, etc., -- we are inundated with words, and are driven further and further from the solitude that we need in order to hear and feel the Divine presence in our lives.
With silence, says Nouwen, we are able to tend to our inner fire and to keep the Spirit aflame. In silence, we can guard the Spirit and not dilute the preciousness of our faith, not weaken the strength of our discipline. And, in silence, we are able to discern what word needs to be spoken -- the word that is filled with "fullness and presence, not the human silence of embarrassment, shame, or guilt, but the divine silence in which love rests secure." When we learn to be silent, we can use the word that "calls forth the healing and restoring stillness of its own silence..."
It may sound funny, and slightly contradictory, but silence does and will teach us to speak holiness, to be contemplative and to embody the Divine presence. In silence, we can better understand and hear one another...
In Henri Nouwen's book on desert spirituality and contemporary ministry, he writes about silence as "solitude practiced in action." Contemporary Christians often forget large chunks of Christian history, and we most often neglect the Desert Fathers and Mothers who teach us the way of the desert, the way of the heart. They emphasize silence as not only a way to commune with God or a way of avoiding evil, but in this "wordy world", silence "can be a sign of God's presence in the different forms of ministry."
In this day and age, words dominate our existence. Indeed, they build up the cages in which we operate. As a poet, I craft language and words in ways to help break through the anesthetized daily living so that experiece comes through. The volley of words that come at us through online ads, junk mail, spam mail, billboards, commercials, text messages, emails, etc., -- we are inundated with words, and are driven further and further from the solitude that we need in order to hear and feel the Divine presence in our lives.
With silence, says Nouwen, we are able to tend to our inner fire and to keep the Spirit aflame. In silence, we can guard the Spirit and not dilute the preciousness of our faith, not weaken the strength of our discipline. And, in silence, we are able to discern what word needs to be spoken -- the word that is filled with "fullness and presence, not the human silence of embarrassment, shame, or guilt, but the divine silence in which love rests secure." When we learn to be silent, we can use the word that "calls forth the healing and restoring stillness of its own silence..."
It may sound funny, and slightly contradictory, but silence does and will teach us to speak holiness, to be contemplative and to embody the Divine presence. In silence, we can better understand and hear one another...
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